moggie6

I'd try and find someone who is familiar with Mobile Life Support. They have a SORT Team that can respond to any incident and I know their personnel are trained to go out and do rehab at fire scenes and haz mat incidents. They have their stuff together.

I just want to correct me earlier statement on Fairview Dutchess being "certified" by the county. We actually are recognized by the county. When I asked my officer tonight at work he related that the county has some sort of regulations or requirements. You can't just call the county and say i'm ABC Fire Dept. and you can now put us in as a FAST Team. I do not know what the requirements are for the county.

Poughkeepsie just recently replaced their last engine that had dual 3 inch lays. It was in reserve for the last couple of years before being replaced. I didn't see it on the union's website as a reserve rig.

In regards to the FAST training for Fairview Dutchess......I believe the stance for having interior firefighters certified in FAST is safety. If your coming inside with me your going to be able to help me if i'm in trouble. Likewise I should be able to help you. Also I think we are "certified" by the county and not the state.

Does anyone know what the price tag was for this station?

I heard we got a new ladder. Does anyone have any photos?

ok if i did this correctly follow this link FDR Fire and you can see shots of this ladder truck in operation! These were posted by Bill Johnson I believe

I wouldn't even worry about spinal immobilization. I would document in my PCR why I didn't apply a c-collar\b-board and take full spinal immobilization per cautions. I'd also call medical control to run it by them and see if they could offer any assitance and to cover my own rear.

I'm sorry I missed something in the report. Where did it say anything in the report on cuts to career fire depts? I missed it and was wondering if you could point it out to me.

Oh underage drinking how I love thee. With out you I wouldn't have any calls to Marist College. I think if you carry a military I.D. hands down you should be drinking. My uncle is a senior chief in the navy out of san diego. They used to let 18 y/o drink on base but then they suspended it. So what did the young men do? They went to Mexico and they ended up in more trouble than they would have on a bar on base.

In Fairview Dutchess all career members are trained for Ice Rescue.....

I personally have no problem with a discussion of any fire or emergency scene on this web site. I do have a problem with the type of bashing that can come along with these post. Constructive Critisism is cool and there is nothing wrong with that as long as it's constructive. A couple of months ago we had a garage fire in Fairview (Dutchess) Fire District. All in all the job went down pretty well. But here on one of these forums someone had to make comments about how we decided to fight that fire. I was offended and a little upset. Maybe I responded a little harshly to his post. But after I calmed down I realized that the person asking the questions was trying to learn something and help others learn as well. With that said..... I have had the ability to travel across this great nation and see different fire depts in action. I like to try and learn something about each department and take something from them that I didn't know. Talk to the guys and see how they do things down in the trenches. Compare their tactics with the tactics that i'm framiliar with. From all of this I have learned of one common denomenator. D D is what their objective is. It's the end result. If it's a fire it's putting out the fire, if it's a haz mat situation then we mitigate the haz mat incident, a rescue we preform a rescue and a EMS call we take care of our paitents. How we all chose to get to D isn't the same though. Some of us may take the normal steps of ABC then D. Others might go BCA then D. Heck i've even been witness to some fire deparments goin CBA then D. They all get to D though in the end. In the academy they taught us all about ABCD. When I was out on the street though I found that some guys do it differently but still got to D. Was it the safest way to do things...ehh sometimes not so much, but the job got done. If you don't agree with my way to get to D thats fine and i'll respect that. If you want to tell me this in a constructive matter i'm all for it. Maybe you don't like how this deparment operates. Thats fine too. But be construtive about it and respect the opions of those that respond to your post.

I usually do the standard wipe down and check the seats for sharps. That is by far my biggest fear. Little johny get stuck with a needle that someone either dropped or got wedged between the seats.

Nothing for nothing and like i says but this is a little bit more than just the settlement. So yeah some lawyers in our eyes are doing some low things with the legal action they are taking. If a camera man did block off a means of egress for people than this sends a message to camera men and news stations everywhere...use some common sense when shooting film at an emergency. Also it sends a strong message to all of the shady night club owners out there and those that sponser events in clubs like The Station. I hope we all learned from this horrible tragedy I really do. I hope that bar and club owners look not only at the horrible loss of life but the financial loss of this event. People died, people went to jail, and people were sued. To us it maybe looks a little excesive. But to the people who were involved in that fire it's not. History often repeats it's self so i'm sure we will see another tragedy some day. I hope we don't but each day bars and clubs pack themselves up and over the maximum occupancy. This will happen again. And everyone needs to know what the consequences are for participating in something like this.

I am

At some point in time someone will have to answer the call. We can all agree on that. How we answer that call on the other hand is a whole other question. If you are not getting out for alarms or your not properly manning the equipment for alarms then a day will come when you will have to answer for that. People will ask questions, legal action will be taken, and someone will be held responsible. Tax issues do play a part in this process but if we were truely worried about saving money we would not have the duplication of services that are so easy to point out in each county in the lower hudson valley. (i.e. apparatus) Each county can afford to have some sort of combination department with career personel on the pay rolls. If it means a response then it's worth the money. For me this issue isn't about making jobs for my brother and sister firefighters. It's about being responsible. Do you know how hard it is to sit and listen to fire departments go second, third, and fourth dispatch when you know if someone had been there they could have responded?

In regards to Union's and Drug Testing Policies. I personally don't feel there is a single Union out there that is opposed to drug testing for their members. From past experience the Union's do have concerns with how drug testing will be conducted, where the member will be required to go, and that the results will be kept confidential. For example, could the drug testing policy be used to "punish" a member by the employeer? Will they make him travel high and low to the facilitiy to be tested? What information will be exposed from the drug test? What if a member of the Union has a medical condition that doesn't effect his job but comes up in drug testing? That member has a right to keep that information from his employer. In the fire service it can be a safety issue that the Union is looking out for as well. I know of one department that would take a rig out of service while a member was being drug tested. Per the contract the minimum manning has now dropped. Is this a safe practice? I don't use drugs but what about our members that suffer from post traumatic stress disorder? It is a recognized medical problem and if someone uses drugs because they have not been able to cope with the "stress of the job" should they be held responsible? Maybe they should have the chance to go to Employee Assistance and resolve the issue, after all it's considred a job incurred injury. I hope this answered some of the questions in regards to drug testing and the Unions. I can't speak of every Union out there, but this is what my take on it is as a Union Member.

whats this bring up the count for this year? 6 or 7?

I would like honest opinions from all sides, volunteer and career. What do you think of the current state of Emergency Services in Dutchess County? Do you think the Emergency Service in Dutchess County is adequate or could it be better? What can we do to better serve the public? How long do you feel you or a family member of yours should wait for help to arrive in the event of an emergency? What solutions would improve Emergency Service in Dutchess County?

I just want to add that you should stay out of sight as much as possible. I know of some EMS crews who worked in Poughkeepsie that were put in bad situations because a crowd formed outside the scene and the ambulance was in the line of sight of the crowd. Try and remember some basic cover and concealment basics. Don't pull up to a street corner if at all possible or on a straight away. Park on a side street with a building blocking the ambulance and turn off the lights and siren. The siren will make people turn their head to the direction you are coming from. When your in a rurual setting stage even further then you would in a city scenario. Remember just like us, normal people have scanners and will listen to hear where your staging.

This topic pisses me off too! In Dutchess County I see the fire depts handing out cheif cars left and right. I appreciate someone who steps up to the task of being a fire cheif on a volunteer level. But I feel you have to use some common sense with your tax payer funded vehicle. Tax payer funded vehicle. When I grew up in sullivan county I used to work at the Villa Roma Resort Hotel as a kid. Each summer there were several Long Island Fire Dept Cheif Cars up at the hotel for a week just to be on vacation with thier families. I'm sorry but thats a waste of taxpayer money. I was at a Mets game over the summer and there was a chief car from Long Island at the game with his family in the car. I guess his fire dept said it was ok to respond to calls with his family in the vehicle. Yes it does look professional when you have a command vehicle but unless your employeer lets you leave work you should leave that car at home. Now there are career fire depts that let fire cheifs and other administrative people have vehicles to take home with them. But there are rules to follow, at least where I live. I see more people using the chief car, command vehicle, tax payer funded vehicle as personal vehicles rather then command vehicles. I also see chief vehicles that are used in personal buisness matters. I.E. chief is a contractor or runs his own buisness and is out making deliveries. Take a look at some of the state correction facilities or different town and city highway depts. You'll see bar lights and lettered vehicles in the parking lot. You mean to tell me they leave their post at the prison or the job on the road to go to a fire call? The vehicles are necessary. Someone in charge does need to get to the scene in a prudent mannor and make command decsions. But in some areas I think the personal use of the vehicles needs to be revisited. Well said HFD!

I'm just curious what some of you think about what the pay scales should be for EMT's and Paramedics that are working in the private\commercial sector of EMS. I started out my EMS career making $8.50\hr. That was in 2000. The last company that I worked for was paying around $10.40\hr for my services as an EMT on a per diem basis after four years of service. So, my question to you is what do you think you should be making an hour or in a year? Do you think your pay is fair in relation to the income your company recieves I.E. Billing, Insurance, ect...? What do you make an hour and what county\area are you working in? This question is optional, some of you may prefer to keep that to yourselves and I respect that. Also, please keep in mind that some companies may not want you to disclose your hourly rate. You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself as an employee. Thanks you for taking the time to respond.

Good luck to all parties involved. I just hope this merger doesn't end up as ugly as the last one.

Oh and if EMS and Fire mix like oil and water, how come Los Angeles City and County Fire Depts are still in operation and expanding? The same with Phoenix?

Listen up! Fire's are not around anymore like they used to be. So in regards to those city administrators that are out to cut fire depts ect, it's happening even with out ems. Second, the IAFF relased a study that stated Fire Dept EMS is one of the better ways to provide EMS followed by municipal EMS systems. If you are coming into the fire service, be prepared to do EMS. Most fire dept's require you to have some type of EMS training or will require you to become and EMT or a Paramedic prior to your probations end. I considered transfering down south and all the departments I applied to in Virginia required at least an EMT by the end of your probation, some wanted you to become a paramedic. IF YOU WANT A JOB AS A CAREER FIREFIGHTER IN TODAYS WORLD YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO DO EMS, GET OVER IT! If you are looking for a fire dept that is not taking any steps toward Emergency Medical Services look some where else. Also add Fairview Dutchess to that list as depts that require career members to be EMT's after their first year.